CHAPTER TWENTY

“You are glowing,” Liz said, watching me closely.

I could barely hold back my smile at the memory of last night that was the very reason for my ‘glowing’. It’s been almost three weeks since the operation. Liam and I spent so much time together, I almost forgot what it felt like to miss him. During my stay at Mr. Grayson’s place he did his best to prove that he could be a perfect man for me. He brought me flowers and cooked dinners; he took me out for walks under the night sky and joked about small things, just to cheer me up or distract me from work that needed to be done no matter how far away I was from the office. Every night we fell asleep in his bed, wrapped in each other’s embrace.

But last night was different.

We didn’t just fall asleep. As a matter of fact, we didn’t sleep at all. We made love, all night long…

“Cough it up! I need the details.”

I laughed at Liz’s impatience. “I’m not telling you anything!”

“Why the hell not? Didn’t I tell you everything about my first night with Kameron?”

“First, it was not the first time Liam and I spent a night together. And second, I don’t remember you telling me about your nights with Kameron.”

“Ugh, you are killing me, Crystal! At least tell me, does your airy-fairy face mean you two are back together?”

That I could tell her. “It’s like we never separated at all.” I put down a pen I had been holding in my hand and leaned against the back of my chair, giving it a slight push. It started spinning, making my friend laugh.

“My, my… Who would have thought Liam would be so good at seducing you?”

“Right?” I giggled. “It was perfect, Liz. I can still feel butterflies doing their crazy dance in my belly.”

“Are you sure it’s not the aftermath of the operation?”

“No. It’s the aftermath of him in me.”

“Okay, I have changed my mind about the details. Keep them for yourself.”

“I don’t remember the last time I felt so happy.”

“And I don’t remember the last time I saw you so happy. I guess Liam deserved a high-five for what he did to you.” She paused for a moment before she asked, “What are you going to do next?”

“I asked him to move to my place.”

“You did what?”

“Well, Stan’s leaving and my parents are moving to the lake house. So I thought he could move in and live with me.”

“Are you sure you are ready for this?”

“I have spent so much time dreaming of him. I don’t want to spend a single night without him. I’m sick and tired of running away from my love for him. I wanna dive in and melt into it.”

“I can see that. But what about Kim?”

My smile faded. “I promised Liam my attitude towards her would never stand between us. In return, he promised he would never let her or anyone else break us apart. So I guess it’s a fair deal. Besides, if we want to be together, and we do want to be together, we need to get used to seeing Kim a lot.”

“Does she know about you and Liam?”

“She does. Liam told her.”

“She’s staying in his house, right?”

“It’s temporary. He’ll buy a new place for her and the baby.”

“It looks like everything is taking its place, finally.”

“Yep.”

“How did Stan react to the news?”

“He’s happy for me, for us. He said he could have never imagined a better candidate for a man to take his place in the house. Though I don’t know what he and Liam had been talking about for at least two hours, locked in my father’s office. But when Liam opened the door, he looked like he wanted to punch something.”

Liz chuckled. “I knew Stan would give him a hard time. Considering he never liked any of your boyfriends.”

“Good news – right after talking to my dearest brother, Liam canceled all his appointments for the day and took me out for a date, saying he needed a distraction. He also said he was glad I was not eighteen anymore. Why would he say that?”

“Probably because if you were still eighteen, and had Liam as a boyfriend, Stanley wouldn’t stop at locking him in the office for two hours.”

My phone rang, and I saw a new text message flashing on the screen.

It was from Liam, and even without saying it aloud, Liz knew the message was from him. My face must have said it all for me.

“Okay, I’d better give you two some privacy.” She stood up and left the office.

The text from Liam said, “Any plans for tonight?”

“I have a date.”

“Who’s the lucky bastard?”

“You don’t know him.”

“Damn it… I was hoping to pick you up after work.”

“3 words, 8 letters and I’m all yours.”

The following three messages said, “I got food.” “I got wine.” “I love you.”

“Awe, you know me so well. You win!”

“What about the lucky bastard you were supposed to go on a date with?”

“He’ll survive.”

“I’ll pick you up at 6:00 PM.”

 

But what was waiting for me at 6:00 PM was not a date, or wine, or food.

Liz stormed into my office about fifteen minutes before the workday was about to be over and screamed, “We have an emergency!”

“What happened?”

“Quick, take off your clothes and put on this dress,” she threw a knee-length ivory dress on my desk and waited.

“What’s going on, Liz? Where’s the fire?”

“Right in the showroom. And you need to be there in fifteen minutes.”

“I can’t. Liam’s waiting for me outside.”

“He will have to wait a little longer. Now, get changed and come to the showroom.”

Without saying another word, she left, leaving me and the dress alone.

I stared at the ivory piece of fabric and reached for my phone to send Liam a message. I didn’t know what was so important that Liz wanted me to do, but if she called it an emergency, it was an emergency.

I took the dress she brought with her and came to the mirror. I had never seen this dress before and I was sure I saw all of Liz’s designs, new and old. Its belt was made of gold crystals that scattered all over the top of the dress and its three-quarter sleeves. The skirt was simple and flowy; the back – open. I loved it.

I put the dress on and it fit me like a glove, showing and hiding just enough to look both sexy and classy. It was one of my favorite colors and I wondered why Liz wanted me to wear this particular dress for whatever was waiting for me in the showroom. It reminded me of my graduation ball dress, presented by Liam. I still had it hidden somewhere in the wardrobe.

I shoved my feet into ivory velvet stilettos I had in my closet and headed for the showroom.

It was dark and quiet.

“Liz?” I called out.

The lights above the runway went on, illuminating the smooth surface with its soft glow.

“Okay, this is not funny at all.” I looked around and added, “If it’s a joke, Liz, I don’t have time for it.”

When I turned to the runway again, I saw a single chair standing on it.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” I said into the darkness.

No one responded.

“You wanna play? Fine, let’s play.” I went to the chair and sat down, with my legs and arms crossed.

The sounds of a slow song filled the room.

I frowned and looked around again. Just then, a huge screen in front of me came to life. First, it was white, and then I saw dots jumping there, as if in a text message.

“Remember the idiot who left slugs on your pillow?”

I smiled.

“I bet he wanted to leave a flower or something like that, but like I said – he was being an idiot… Too scared to admit that he was hopelessly in love with you.”

“He used to come and peek through your window just to make sure you found those slugs.”

A line of smileys followed the words.

“But what he really wanted to see was you…”

I felt tears running down my cheeks. The music made it even harder to keep my emotions under control.

“Like an addict, he followed you everywhere, watching you grow up and turn into one incredible young lady, so blindingly beautiful; he looked away whenever your eyes met from across the room.”

“Admitting that he had a crush on you was still a terrifying option.”

Another line of smileys followed.

“But the day he saw a guy from the neighborhood flirting with you, it nearly killed him.”

“He wanted nothing more than to punch the poor guy in his smiling face.”

“And he would, if you didn’t see him watching you. The look in your eyes was full of thoughts he couldn’t read.”

“And he suddenly realized that he would spend his whole life looking into your eyes, trying to guess the thoughts running through your head.”

“It was like a bomb exploding inside his coward heart. It hit him with a love so strong, he wanted to run away and hide from what the realization made him see.”

“He’d been running away for years… Hiding in a cocoon of lies and meaningless affairs.”

“Until one day, his lips touched yours…”

“He got trapped in the prison of their sweetness and tenderness.”

“He never felt so high before…”

“He never wanted to fly even higher…”

“But then something stopped him, pulled him away from you.”

“He walked away, hoping he would be able to forget the sweetness he could still feel on his lips, even though you were no longer around.”

“He stepped aside, and watched you living your life, without him.”

“When in fact, he always wanted to be a part of it…”

“He thought you were happy.”

“He thought you were okay.”

“Until the day he saw something that crossed out years of his blindness...”

Instinctively, my hand touched the belt of my dress, covering the spot where the ugly scar used to be. After the operation, it was barely visible. But my lungs still lacked air at the memories of the day I brought a knife to my skin.

With my eyes full of tears, I looked at the screen again.

“There were so many questions he wanted to ask…”

“And so little desire to hear the answers that he somehow knew would be terrible.”

“Hours turned into day, days – into sleepless nights…”

“But the desire to see you got even stronger.”

“And then you fell asleep in his arms, and he felt like it was the very thing he had been missing for so long, trying to replace it with something that never really mattered.”

“He wanted to stay.”

“To take your pain away.”

“To kiss every tear you dropped.”

“To heal every wound you might have.”

“He still loved you more than life itself.”

“Because without you, it was empty and dull.”

“Pointless and lonely.”

“You made it whole.”

“You made him whole.”

“You made him happy...”

The screen faded away and the room filled with silence.

For a few moments, nothing happened.

Then I heard footsteps behind me and turned around. Liam walked from behind the curtain separating the runway from the backstage and walked to where I was sitting.

He kneeled down on one knee and lowered his head to kiss the back of my palms, one by one.

His forehead touched my knees and I felt more tears rolling down my cheeks.

We didn’t talk. But no words were needed. It was as if with his silence he was saying everything he couldn’t say aloud or write on the screen.

In my heart, I heard his every unspoken word. And it was priceless.

Just when I was about to say how much I loved him, he looked up and said, “I don’t know what’s waiting for us in the future: hurricanes or storms. But I want to see it all, with you.” He took out a small velvet box and put it into my hands. “If you open it, there will be no way back. If you keep it closed, I will still be somewhere nearby, watching you through the window, like I did when we were kids. But my love for you will never fade away.”

I looked at the box in my hands. It was my turn to say something. But I just couldn’t make myself speak. So I did the only thing that I wanted to do at that moment.

I opened the box…

And saw a beautiful ring with a heart-shaped diamond.

“This heart is yours,” Liam said. “Just like the one beating inside me.” He took the ring out of the box and put it on my finger.

He then stood up and pulled me into his arms, covering my lips with a kiss – the most amazing kiss ever.

What do they say about love?

“Being in love gives you strength, but loving someone gives you courage.”

It was true. Only with him, I felt like I could do anything, live my new life and never look back.

What else could I wish for?

I heard someone talking nearby.

I broke the kiss and saw Liam’s smiling eyes watching me.

“Damn it, guys, no tissues are enough to watch you two.” Liz stepped out of the darkness, holding Olivia in her arms.

“You have been here all this time?”

She nodded and came closer to give me a hug. “Me, Stanley, Kameron, Jeff and even Bob, who made sure the screen that for some stupid reason wouldn’t stand still, stayed where it was supposed to be.”

The next second, our friends surrounded us, saying how happy they were for us. Even Jeffrey, a missing part of my brother’s ‘band’ arrived from New York to celebrate the engagement.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said, hugging Liam.

“You knew I would open the box, didn’t you?” I asked Liam.

“Well, I really wanted you to open it.”

“What would you do if I kept it closed?”

“He didn’t think about it,” Kameron responded for him.

“True,” Liam said. “I didn’t even want to think about it.” He kissed me again and then the rest of the lights in the showroom went on and I saw a table served nearby with champagne, chocolates and fruits.

“I hope you liked the dress,” Liz said.

“I loved it. Thank you so much. But… When did you have time to create it?”

She and Liam shared a mysterious look.

“How long ago did you plan this night?” I asked him.

“I called Liz the day my father removed your bandages. I couldn’t wait to give you the ring.”

“I can’t believe you’ve been keeping it secret from me!”

Liz laughed. “A deal is a deal. I promised Liam to keep my mouth shut.”

“So everyone was sure I would open the box, right?”

Stanley took a glass of champagne from the table and then gave it to me. “If you didn’t open it, I would have to cancel my flight to Washington and stay here to babysit you for the rest of your lonely and pitiful life.”

“Well, thank you very much, dear brother. But I’m not that much of a lost cause as you think I am. I would buy myself a cat to keep me entertained.”

“But entertainments that involve me are so much more fun, right?” Liam said into my ear.

I punched his chest playfully. “I will have to check it out later tonight.”

“I’m game. Just tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll obey.”

“Damn, I love you being so obeying.”

Everyone laughed.

“Be ready, he asks for something in return,” Kameron said. “I don’t remember a single game he played fair.”

“Time changes everything,” Liam said, with his eyes shining as brightly as ever.

I couldn’t agree with him more. Time changed a lot; it changed us.

But the only thing that stayed the same was our love. I hoped it was strong enough to live for many more years that he and I were going to spend side by side.

There were so many things we needed to catch up on; so many dreams to make come true. Our past might not be perfect, but we had our future and we could make it whatever we wanted it to be. And even being apart, we could still be together, keeping each other in our souls, holding to the love that bonded us, helping it grow and become even stronger.

 

I used to think that I didn’t believe in fairy tales anymore, but I was wrong. I did believe in them. And one of them was now happening around me, with the man I loved with all my heart endowing me with love so pure, it glowed all around him, like magic you can never see, only feel washing over you.

Someone once said that true love stories have no endings. I wanted to believe it was true, because in my heart, I knew I would never love anyone as much as I loved Liam, neither in this life nor in all my future lives, if any existed. I knew there would be no other man to take his place, no other souls to mate with mine, no other love to take my breath away. There was only him, always and forever.

Going through bad and good times, we stayed strong, we kept love in our hearts and never let it die, no matter how many times we died, looking for something to fill out the emptiness we lived in. In quite understanding and forgiveness, we found what we thought was lost forever.

We found us…